Friday, Jan. 7, 2005 | 9:26 a.m.
Two inmates were wounded in separate attacks at High Desert State Prison near Indian Springs this week, including one inmate from the Kentucky prison system who had posted an ad on an Internet dating site for the incarcerated.
One inmate, Paul Mitchell, was possibly beaten on Jan. 1, while the second inmate, Cody Dunn, on Tuesday was stabbed "seriously" once and slashed superficially 15 times, said Howard Skolnik, assistant director of the Department of Corrections, on Thursday.
Both inmates are recovering at University Medical Center and are expected to fully recover from their wounds, he said. Skolnik added that Mitchell is still in critical condition.
The Department of Corrections is currently conducting an investigation into the attacks and could not speculate on the motives for the suspected beating of Mitchell or stabbing of Dunn.
Mitchell told prison officials that he had injured himself after falling out of bed, but the officials did not believe him, Skolnik said.
"The trauma he experienced to the head is consistent with falling out of a bed, but that doesn't mean we believe him," Skolnik said, who couldn't provide any further information pending the investigation.
The 48-year-old Mitchell is serving a 7 1/2 year sentence for use of a weapon during an armed robbery and will be eligible for parole in April, according to the Department of Corrections.
In April, however, he will begin serving a consecutive 10-year sentence for battery with a deadly weapon stemming from the original armed robbery, according to the corrections department.
He has already served consecutive sentences for robbery, attempted murder and attempted robbery for the original incident and has been in Nevada's prison system since 1982, Skolnik said.
The second incident on Jan. 4 involving Dunn is also currently under investigation by the corrections department, Skolnik said. He could provide no information on the incident other than the extent of the inmate's wounds.
The Kentucky Department of Corrections stated that Dunn, 32, is serving a 30-year term for armed robbery and was convicted in 1994.
The state Department of Corrections had no information on Dunn in its database of prisoners because he was transferred here from Kentucky at an unspecified date.
The Nevada prison system often takes prisoners from other states when those inmates are too well known in their own states or face threats of violence in the prison where they are kept, said Fritz Schlottman, spokesman for the Department of Corrections.
Schlottman could not comment on the attack on Dunn and declined to speculate about the motive against him. Since Dunn was transferred to Nevada from out of state, the department of corrections has no information on him in its records -- even those that prison officials can view, he said.
"The staff can look at the records, too" and inform other prisoners that he is housed at a certain prison, he said.
Anyone with access to the Internet, however, could easily find where Dunn is housed.
Dunn is one of more than 20 Nevada inmates who placed an ad on cyberspace-inmates.com, a Web site with information on inmates who want to correspond or begin relationships with individuals outside the prison system.
On the Web site, Dunn describes himself as a "single strong (gay white male)" seeking a "sincere loving man for companionship and what could be the love of my life." He continues describing himself -- 31, strawberry blond hair, blue eyes, "200 lbs of love" -- and states that he is serving a sentence for armed robbery.
"They are scammers," said Schlottman of the inmates who post information on such Web sites. Such inmates are often trying to con money out of people they correspond with, he said.
Dunn is just one of more than 460 out-of-state prisoners currently serving time Nevada's prison system.
Currently, Nevada houses 129 inmates from Wyoming, 236 from Washington state and about 100 from other states on a contract basis, Schlottman said.
From fiscal year 2003 to August, Nevada has received about $9.6 million in revenue from housing out of state inmates at Nevada's detention facilities, he said.
States often exchange inmates because of individual safety issues for inmates and to ease overcrowding, he said.
Nevada has participated in interstate prisoner exchanges with other states for years, Schlottman said, adding that the first time Nevada housed an inmate from another state was in January 1970. He did not know which state transferred the inmate to Nevada.
Nevada has sent 184 male inmates and seven female inmates to out-of-state prisons across for safety reasons, he said.
archive
